Michigan

Count Fred Meijer among the 99 percent (letter)

I was sad to read that Fred Meijer passed away recently, although he lived a full life and accomplished many great things.

I had the honor of working for his company, Meijer, for almost 8 years, and I look back with many good memories on my time
with the company.

We hear the term 99 percenters and 1 percenters a
lot lately. I consider the terminology emotionally evocative and
unclear,
although the Occupy Wall Street activists have every reason to be
angry at the dismal and unjust character of the U.S. economic
system.

I assert that Fred Meijer was a billionaire 99 percenter. I count Fred Meijer among the 99 percent because of both how he
gained his wealth and how he chose to share it with the community.

He shared it with me every two weeks in the form of a paycheck, and to this day I look to Meijer first for what I need. He
earned that loyalty.

Fred Meijer worked with his father to build the
company from a simple grocery store in Greenville to a chain of 190
super
centers in 5 states. Through sweat, hard work, and diligent
attention to taking care of his customer's needs, he earned every
penny of the billions of dollars in wealth he earned over his
life. His wealth was the wealth of Main Street.

Compare that to Wall Street billionaires. Most
were born to wealthy families, went to Ivy League schools, and were
awarded
positions based not on their character, but because of their
fraternity memberships and bloodlines. They make their money
from speculation, questionable financial instruments like Mortgage
Backed Securities and other Collateralized Debt Obligations.

Speculative finance capital is the reason that this country is now experiencing the worst economic crisis since the Great
Depression.

Main Street produced wealth for America. Main Street built the armada and the military vehicles that won World War II, took
us to the moon, gave us the personal computer, the smart phone, the mass-produced automobile, and so much more.